Author: Maghakian Mike

Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 2 2006

Armenian official discusses Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku railroad project
with Chinese Ambassador

02 September 2006 [12:23] – Today.Az

Togran Torosian, Speaker of Armenian National Assembly and Chinese
Ambassador Zuo Xueliang, Ambassador of China, discussed the issue of
China’s participation in the construction of
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railroad.

The Press Service of RA Parliament informed that Mr. Torosian
approved the participation of China in development of cooperation
with the countries of the region. Besides, the Speaker expressed hope
that Beijing has chosen the most optimal variant that connects Europe
with the Eastern Asia by railway.
The sides also discussed issues of activating the inter-parliamentary
relations. Mr. Zuo Xueliang passed the invitation of the speaker of
Chinese Parliament to visit China. He emphasized the importance of
the coming visit from the viewpoint of developing the bilateral
relations. In his turn, Torosian added that soon the Chinese
inter-parliamentary delegation will visit Yerevan.
The sides emphasized also the developing inter-party relations,
particularly, that between the republican Party of Armenia and the
Communist Party of China.

‘HAYASTAN’ FUND ANNOUNCES ABOUT STRICT SUPERVISION
By Susanna Margarian
AZG Armenian Daily
01/09/2006
“Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund once again touches upon the
construction of North-South highway in Nagorno Karabakh Republic
assuring that the constriction works are continuing according to
schedule. “Construction is being carried out simultaneously I 7
sections of the road. Construction of Kichan-Drmbon’s 5.2 km long
section is in final stage. Construction of several other sections
nears its end,” a statement reads.
During the year of 2006 “Hayastan” Fund has paved 90 thousand sq
meters of the highway. To solve the problem connected with bitumen
importing and to help construction organizations, the Fund has signed
an agreement of $1 million 2 thousand in 2006 as a result of which
1200 tones of bitumen have been imported to Armenia.
“As to the quality of construction, problems can occur in any
circumstance, and if needed the Fund turns to NKR government and other
authorized organs as well as strictly warns contractor companies. In
general, the Fund has made stricter its control over the quality of
the work,” the Fund’s administration states.

SPOKESMAN FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: RESIGNATION OF NATURE PROTECTION MINISTER IS NOT EXPECTED
Noyan Tapan
Aug 31 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, NOYAN TAPAN. It is not expected that a decision
about resignation of the RA Minister of Nature Protection Vardan
Aivazian will be made in the near future, Spokesman for the RA
President Victor Soghomonian stated during the August 30 press
conference. Asked if it it true that the US Ambassador to Armenia
John Evans gave the RA President a video cassette that confirms the
fact of V. Aivazian’s taking a bribe, V. Soghomonian replied that
“he is not informed about this video cassette”.

GATHERING MONEY AT SCHOOLS IS A CRIME
Lragir.am
28 Aug 06
This was stated by the first deputy mayor of Yerevan during the August
28 briefing at the City Hall of Yerevan. Moreover, the directors
of schools who organize illegal raising of money will be dismissed
forever. “Raising money is an unacceptable phenomenon, if we have
facts, the directors will be dismissed,” warns Kamo Areyan. The latter
confirms that raising money at schools is illegal because the schools
do not have the right to make a deal with pupils.
However, in order to legalize this money raising at schools it
should be on a volunteer basis. In this case the extra-budget sums
of the schools will be considered legal. And while the first mayor of
Yerevan assures that they will battle this phenomenon, the experienced
directors of schools will resume their mission in several days.

SCHOLAR SAYS AGHDAM FINDS SHOW ARMENIANS’ LONG CULTURAL PRESENCE
By Gayane Danielian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 23, 2006
An Armenian scholar argues that the historical and cultural monuments
of the town of Tigranakert dated to the first century B.C. recently
found in Aghdam are additional proof that Armenians and Armenian
culture were present in the region still millennia ago.
Director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography Aram
Kalantarian told RFE/RL that the expedition working in eastern
Karabakh found exact replicas of monuments one could come across in
Armenian territory.
“What was found in Aghdam simply repeats what is present in the
territory of Armenia. That is, it proves that here we have a common
cultural field and that the monuments were created by people living
in the same cultural field,” Kalantarian said.
Aghdam is an Azerbaijani district east of Karabakh presently controlled
by the Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces.
Kalantarian said that during the past two years the government to a
certain degree increased state budget allocations for archeological
expeditions. In particular, according to him, 34 million drams
(about $85,000) had been allocated for the purpose in 2006, and 22
expeditions have been working in the territory of Armenia this year.
Kalantarian said the expeditions had achieved ‘marvelous results,’
as new historical and cultural monuments were found. However, he said
that it is equally important to preserve what has been found.
The monuments of Tigranakert were found recently by an expedition led
by Hamlet Petrosian. The team of archeologists has already returned
from Karabakh and now is working in Garni.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: PLACE AND DATE OF MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIANI FOREIGN MINISTERS NOT KNOWN YET
Yerevan, August 23. ArmInfo. No specific data on the place and date
of the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaiani foreign ministers has
been determined yet. Vladimir Karapetyan, Acting Press Secretary
of Armenian Foreign Ministry, informed ArmInfo commenting on the
statement of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov that he
is ready to meet with Vardan Oskanyan.
“At present the date and the place of the meeting are discussed,” V.
Karapetyan said. Azerbaijani media report E. Mammedyarov had a meeting
with the French Co- chair of OSCE Minsk Group. “The Co-chairs made
several proposals to us regarding the date and the place of the
meeting. In our turn, we gave our agreement,” E. Mammedyarov said.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Armenian National Committee – Texas Chapter
11301 Richmond Ave. # K108
Houston, Texas 77082
Phone: 281.558.1918
[email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++
PRESS RELEASE +++ PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Friday, August 18, 2006
Contact: Vatche Hovsepian
Tel: (281) 558-1918
ANC OF TEXAS MEETS WITH LONE STAR STATE LEGISLATORS
HOUSTON, TX – Taking advantage of the August Congressional recess,
the Armenian National Committee of Texas today wrapped up its first
week of district office meetings to update Lone Star State
legislators on a broad range of Armenian American legislative
priorities.
As part of its ongoing effort to connect the Texas Armenian American
community with their federal representatives, the ANC of Texas met
with Congressmen Ron Paul (R-Victoria) and Charles Gonzalez (D-San
Antonio). The leadership of the Texas community also met with senior
aides in the office of Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Austin).
Kicking off the week this past Monday, ANC of Texas member Vrouir
Frankian was joined by Mhair Dekmezian and Zaven Ouzounian for a
meeting with Congressman Paul and his deputy District Director,
Dianna Kile, in his Lake Johnson office. Topics discussed included
the current status of Armenian Genocide legislation and ongoing
Nagorno Karabagh peace talks. Mr. Frankian also raised the matter of
Azerbaijan’s recent desecration and destruction of the historic
Djulfa Armenian cemetery to the Congressman’s attention, as well as
the impact of the ongoing blockade of Armenia by Turkey and
Azerbaijan.
Representative Paul said he would look into co-sponsoring H.Res.316,
the Armenian Genocide Resolution. The meeting attendees thanked the
Congressman for his support of H.R. 3361, the Open Railroads Act that
prevents the United States from financially backing a proposed
railroad in the South Caucasus that would bypass Armenia.
On Friday, the Chairman of the ANC of Texas, Vatche Hovsepian, took
to the road to lead delegations of constituents in Congressional
meetings in San Antonio and Austin. In the morning, Mr. Hovsepian
was joined by San Antonians, Dr. Sos Aghoyan, Zaven Ekmekjian, Dr.
Tavit Hagopian, Haig Panoyan, and Diran Yeghparian for a meeting with
Congressman Charles Gonzalez. The Congressman noted that the
Armenian Genocide must be recognized and promised to co-sponsor
H.Res.316. He also conveyed his support for maintaining parity in
U.S. military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Congressman was
pleased to meet with the many constituents in attendance and enjoyed
hearing about how they were contributing to the health and welfare of
the broader San Antonio community.
Following the meeting with Congressman Gonzales, the Chairman of the
ANC of Texas was joined by Austin community members Ken Maranian and
Khachig Papanyan for a meeting with Congressman Lamar Smith’s
community liaison.
“The meetings we have held with Members of Congress and their aides
have been productive,” noted Vatche Hovsepian. “These Congressmen
are, today, even more familiar with Armenian American issues, and, as
a result, when they come across these issues in Washington, D.C.
they will know that they have constituents at home who are attentive
to how they address these matters.”
The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United
States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on
a broad range of issues.

DISCOVERED CITY OF TIGRAN THE GREAT
AZG Armenian Daily
18/08/2006
August 10, The expedition “Tigranakert” of the institute of Archaeology
and Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armenia with
the initiative and financing of ~DFrance-Karabagh~I and “Yerkir”
Union of NGO-s for Repatriation and Settlement has made astounding
discoveries. The expedition, led by the Doctor of Historical Sciences
Hamlet Petrosyan, managed to find the citadel constructed by Tigran The
Great. The structure was built by huge plain stone blocks tied to each
other with the so called “swallow-tail bounds” – an advanced Hellenic
technique. Such a complicated and advanced technique is used here
for the first time and serves as evidence for the hypothesis of the
research group, in particular that Tigranakert of Artsakh is located
at the same place as the current archaeological excavation. One of
the fenced terraces of the city, which is also constructed from plain
blocks, is also under excavation.
The excavations of the urban district and adjacent burial mounds
have also been initiated. These excavations have come to prove
that Armenian identity has been present in the lower stream of
Khachenaget (former region of Aghdam) at least since the first century
B.C.

180 ARMENIAN COMPANIES HAVE LICENCES FOR PROVIDING DATA TRANSMISSION AND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES
Noyan Tapan
Aug 15 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 15, NOYAN TAPAN. About 180 Armenian companies currently
have licences for providing data transmission and Internet access
services.
Gevorg Gevorgian, Head of the Telecommunication Department of the
RA Public Services Regulatory Commission, told NT correspondent
about it. According to him, the operation of 14 companies providing
data transmission and Internet access services was ceased due to the
fact that these companies were not engaged in this type of activity
but were unaware that this circumsatnce does exempt them from annual
duties for licence and from fines for non-payment of these duties. At
the same time, in the first half of this year, 9 licences allowing
to carry out such activity were granted. G. Gevorgain found it
difficult to answer the question about the volume of the Armenian
market of data transmission and Internet access services. He noted
that ArmenTel company can throw a light on this question. It should
have submitted information to the commission about the amount its
electronoic communication services until February 1, 2006.
The publication of this information was delayed until the commission’s
sitting scheduled for July 28, which did not take place.

AZIMOV: “NEW PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT OF NK CONFLICT ARE EXPECTED IN SEPTEMBER”
Today, Azerbaijan
Aug. 15, 2006
There is not a concrete proposal whether or not Azerbaijani and
Armenian Foreign Ministers will meet, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov told journalists.
Mr.Azimov said the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are discussing this issue
adding there will be concrete information in few days, APA reports.
“We have always assessed the meetings in terms of their efficiency and
concreteness. We’ll have heard constructive proposals not repetition
of old stances. We can achieve something only if Armenia demonstrates
a constructive position,” the Deputy Minister said.
Reminding that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has offered concrete
proposals regarding the principal issues, Azimov said details are
discussed at the meetings at a level of Foreign Minister.
He admitted that some standstill appeared in the negotiating process
for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict after the Bucharest
meeting stressing new proposals are expected to be made in September
this year.
“We can hope for something to happen in September. Proposals are on
the table. Armenia can state its position if interested,” the Deputy
Minister said.
URL: